Caught four browns (no bows) in the susky in Wrightsville some years ago. I have feeling more than a few of the trout in Donegal head downstream. Never had any in the heat of the summer (probably dead and eaten by then) but I did catch one in June.

The stream seems too small to keep and hold much of a population of wild trout. Now if Chiques could support a trout population that would be a fantastic fishery. There are many areas of that creek that look wonderful. Looks, of course, don't support trout.

The headwaters of Chiques used to be on the nat repro list, but was removed fairly recently IIRC. It has several small tribs on its upper end that have wild trout, so it's possible there are still some in the upper main stem, even if only migratory.

Mike, is my memory right about Chiques? If so, what did you find on the last survey?

The Chiques receives a tremendous amount of sediment from upstream sources during heavy rain events. I've never checked the temperature in the summer, but am 99% sure that it warms well beyond that of trout survival.

With regards to the Donegal, other than its headwaters, much of the stream gets "borderline" in the summer months. Plugging a temp in the neighborhood of 70 is not uncommon. It too receives a good bit of sediment from farming along its length.

If trout are making it to the Susky from the Donegal, then they're taking a "fall of faith" over the dam on Chiques that is right next to 441.

Based on the limited number of naturally reproducing RT streams in the state, I don't have high hopes that the fingerling stocking program will bear fruit. The Donegal has shown that it wants to be a naturally reproducing brown trout stream, so efforts should made to sustain and promote it.

The Donegal certainly has enough size to support a robust naturally reproducing trout population, but is hampered by a number of factors such as silt, temperature, habitat, predation, etc.